Abdol was the Living Pharaoh while in his normal appearance, but
once he obtained enough cosmic energy, he would increase in mass,
size, and power, thus becoming the Living Monolith.

Abdol has mainly been an X-Men villain, usually using Havok to
become the Living Monolith. He has also used other superheroes,
including the Fantastic Four (who gained their super
powers from exposure to cosmic rays). He even killed his own
daughter to achieve his goal.

Contents

Fictional character
biography

Ahmet Abdol was born in Cairo, Egypt.
He was a professor of Egyptology and archeologist who discovered
he had the ability to manipulate cosmic energy, mainly by absorbing
it and projecting it as energy blasts. Deciding to use his powers
for his own personal gain, Abdol created a cult around himself as
messiah, the Cult of the Living Pharaoh, became a supervillain and
set about his plan to rule the world.

Abdol discovered that another mutant, Havok (Alex Summers, brother to Scott Summers
also known as Cyclops) could absorb and project cosmic energy more
easily than Abdol could. Abdol kidnapped Havok and used him to
increase his power, and battled the X-Men.[1] He then
first became the Living Monolith, and battled the X-Men in this
form.[2] He was
then captured by the Sentinels, but escaped.[3]

Later, Abdol abducted Mister Fantastic, the Invisible
Woman, and the Human
Torch to absorb cosmic radiation from their bodies. As he grew,
he battled the Avengers and Spider-Man. Eventually
Abdol grew so large that Thor used his hammer to throw him into outer space,
where the Living Monolith eventually became a "Living Planet,"
similar to Ego.[7]

It was later revealed that, although the Monolith is usually the
one pulling the strings, another X-Men villain, Apocalypse, wanted to use the
Living Monolith to drain the powers of other super-beings. As a
result, Abdol went on a rampage, and several superheroes attempted
to stop him before he began to grow to planet size.

It was later revealed, also, that Abdol's formerly dormant
mutant powers had been activated by a procedure performed on him by
Mister
Sinister. Sinister spliced certain x-genes from Alex Summers
into his genome, thus giving
Abdol the ability to absorb cosmic energy. Since his powers were
genetically similar to Havok's, this explained why their abilities
interfered with one another's.

During his time in space, one of the Monolith's main weapons,
the Staff of Horus, was acquired by a young woman called Akasha. She was
able to use that power to become a female version of the Living
Pharaoh. Spider-Man
was able to break the staff, leaving Akasha to depart the scene
retaining only some fragments of the Pharaoh's power. She hasn't
been seen since.

Abdol was then found by Bishop and Deathbird floating in space. Deathbird
revealed she'd been betraying Bishop for some time; it was later on
revealed that she was in fact working for Apocalypse. She then knocked out
Bishop and Abdol was brought to Apocalypse, who used Abdol's body
as an energy container during the The Twelve story arc.
This led to Apocalypse's merging with Cyclops. The Monolith was seen
breaking up because of the excess of power absorbed, and then
fled.

Powers and
abilities

Ahmet Abdol, as the Living Pharaoh, is a mutant with the ability to
absorb energy from cosmic rays. Absorbing this energy resulted in
transforming Abdol into the Living Monolith, increasing his height
to 33 feet (10 m), and giving him proportionate
superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability. As the Living
Monolith he had the ability to emit cosmic energy as blasts of
concussive force from his eyes. Abdol could only utilize his mutant
powers as the Living Monolith and could transform into the Living
Monolith only when cosmic radiation was channeled into his body
through a focusing medium, such as the Cheops Crystal, or when
cosmic radiation was prevented from reaching his counterpart,
Havok.

The Living Monolith has been genetically altered by splicing his
own mutant genes with those of the mutant X-Man Havok. This
modification allows him to absorb large amounts of cosmic radiation
- although as Havok absorbs the same radiation, the Living
Monolith's powers can be limited when Havok absorbs background
radiation (or other suitable energy sources) that might otherwise
be used to fuel the Living Monolith.

Although Havok projects absorbed radiation as energy blasts, the
Living Monolith had a broader range of powers. He is able to
project energy as intense heat, a concussive force, or sonic
vibrations. Stored energy also affects his physical form -
increasing his size, mass, strength, and resistance to injury, and
granting him an indefinite lifespan. Although there
appears to be no clear upper limit to the amount of power he can
absorb, it is also possible to overload his powers.

The Living Monolith has additionally demonstrated low-level
telepathic abilities enabling him to read minds and take complete
mental control over small crowds of people.

Abdol wore body armor of unknown materials. As the Living
Pharaoh, he wielded a hand-held ankh capable of projecting bursts
of concussive force.

Abdol has a gifted intellect, and is an expert archeologist and
Egyptologist, with a Ph.D. in archeology. He is also an advance
student of genealogy, human mutation, and the effects of cosmic
radiation.

Other
Media

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Video
Game

The Living Monolith made an appearance as a boss character in
the video game X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse voiced
by Dwight
Schultz. He served as one of the final guards when reaching
Apocalypse in Egypt. Living Monolith has special dialogue with Sunfire.